Summary: This Briefing quotes
the responses to the London bombings of 7 July 2005 of a
British Muslim spokesman, and of London mayor Ken Livingstone.
Their reactions contrast with their responses (and those
of many others) to Palestinian terrorism against Israelis.
Will the double-standard now end?

On 7 July, terrorists attacked three underground trains and
a double-decker bus in the heart of London during the morning
rush hour, killing at least 50 people and injuring over 700.
These attacks prompted condemnations throughout the United Kingdom
and around the world.

Muslim Association of Great Britain – a “crime
against humanity…”

Hours after the attacks, a Muslim leader said the following
on national radio:-

“There are attacks against humanity. Whatever they declare
their motive to be, those who carried out these attacks are
criminals and these are crimes, pure and simple….”

- Anis Altikriti, national spokesman for the Muslim Association
of Great Britain (BBC Radio 4 interview 7 July 2005)

The website of the Muslim Association published a statement
expressing its “disgust for the contempt with which the
perpetrators appear to hold human life”. It also stated
that Islam “upholds the sanctity of human life”,
and views the killing of innocent people as “heinous and
repulsive”.

Ken Livingstone – this was “indiscriminate
slaughter…”

Ken Kivingstone, the mayor of London, was in Singapore when
the attacks took place. He had participated on the previous
day in London’s winning bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
In his first statement Livingstone stated as follows:-

“This was an attack on ordinary working Londoners. Black
and white. Christian and Muslim. Hindu and Jew…. An
indiscriminate attempt to slaughter as many people as possible…..”
[our emphasis added]

Statement by Ken Livingstone, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 7 July
2005

On his return to London, Livingstone made a further statement,
in which he vowed that London would not be intimidated. As with
his earlier words, Livingstone was widely praised. He said as
follows:-

The London bombings were horrendous. While British people are
in shock, they also resolved not to waver in the face of these
attacks.

Since 2000 Israel has endured over four uninterrupted years
of terrorism: over 120 suicide bombings, and thousands of other
attacks, targeted indiscriminately against men, women and children
(see Briefing 78). Will Muslim leaders in the UK condemn these
as “crimes against humanity”? Will Ken Livingstone
condemn them as “criminal acts of mass murder”?
Will they and others finally stop claiming that these murderous
attacks against Israelis are legitimate because of their supposed
motive, and stop blaming the victims for them?